


Masquerade

by Spacecadet72



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 21:40:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7774693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacecadet72/pseuds/Spacecadet72
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Princess Marinette is betrothed to Prince Adrien from a neighboring kingdom. While at a masquerade ball to welcome King Gabriel and Prince Adrien, Marinette meets a man in a black mask and cat ears who introduces himself only as "Chat Noir." She's supposed to be getting to know the Prince, but can't help but be drawn to Chat Noir instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Masquerade

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for ML Fandom Week on tumblr. The Day 2 prompts were AU or Friends, and I, clearly, chose AU. This is very generic historical royalty AU, so no specific time period and anachronisms abound.

“Tikki,” Marinette said as her lady-in-waiting laced up the back of her dress. It was a deep red, with black details to match the red and black mask she had yet to put on. “When are King Gabriel and Prince Adrien due to arrive?”

“Not until the start of the masque, my Lady,” Tikki said as she bustled around her, making sure everything was right with the dress.

Marinette sighed. “Then there will be no meeting the Prince before the start of the ball?”

Tikki shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”

Marinette bit her lip and sighed again. Her parents had informed her a month ago that she would wed the Prince from the neighboring kingdom to the north in order to bring peace to their two lands. There had been unrest between the two kingdoms for the past several decades, and her parents and his father hoped that uniting the two lands with their marriage would bring an end to the conflict.

She had corresponded with the Prince since the announcement, and he had seemed kind and thoughtful in his letters, but they had been overseen by their parents. How could she really know someone that way, someone she had never met?

She had hoped there would be a moment before the masque when they could meet away from the crowds and as themselves, but that hope seemed for naught.

“I’m sure he will make a fine husband, Princess.” Tikki said in reassurance.

Marinette smiled. “I’m sure you’re right, Tikki. And now that we are finally to meet, I will be able to judge his character for myself.”

“Exactly so,” Tikki said, handing Marinette her mask. “Now go. You mustn’t be late for the ball.”

* * *

 

Marinette stood to the side of the dance floor, her smile wide as she watched her friend Alya dance with one of the courtiers, Nino, who had come with King Gabriel and Prince Adrien.

She had danced the last dance with the Prince, and was resting between dances while the Prince was engaged with another. She was relieved at the opportunity for a break. The Prince had been courteous and all that a prince should be, but reserved. He hadn’t seemed open to her attempts at conversation, and it was hard to get to know someone from behind a mask.

The song came to an end and the dancers left the floor to look for new partners. Marinette knew that she wouldn’t get to forgo two dances in a row, and plastered on a brighter smile for whoever her next partner would be.

“You look beautiful tonight, Princess.”

Marinette turned at the voice to see a man in a black mask and black cat ears standing just to her right.

“May I have this dance?” he asked with an exaggerated bow, his right hand extended out towards her.

There was something familiar about him, but Marinette couldn’t place it. She stared at him for a moment trying to figure it out, before speaking.

“You have me at a disadvantage, sir,” Marinette said with a smile. “You know who I am, but I don’t know who you are.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” the man said, pointing to the pointed ears on top of his head. “I am Chat Noir.”

“Well, then, Chat Noir,” she said with a curtsey, before taking his hand in hers. “I would be delighted.”

He led her out onto the dance floor and into their starting positions as they waited for the musicians to start the next song.

The music started, and they were moving. His dancing was graceful and fluid, as if he really were the cat he was dressed as tonight. He kept his eyes--a bright green that she couldn’t help but find captivating--on hers as they moved about the room.

“How are you finding the ball?” he asked as they moved in and out of the other couples.

“It is a wonderful evening. I am happy to welcome the Prince to our kingdom and everyone’s costumes are so lovely.”

“You are an admirer of fashion?” Chat Noir asked, his smile widening, turning more genuine. “I came with King Gabriel’s court. Fashion is the largest industry in our kingdom.”

“I am. I designed my own dress,” Marinette said, glad to have found a topic she was happy to talk about at length.

Chat Noir’s eyebrows rose and he pulled back slightly as they danced to look at her dress.

“You designed this? It is exquisite. You truly have a talent.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said, feeling happier at this compliment than any of the many comments on her beauty that had been bestowed upon her tonight. She put so much of her time and of herself into her creations, it was gratifying when that talent and effort was recognized.

“The detail of the black designs are especially arresting,” Chat Noir said, looking again at the embroidery on her skirt. “How ever did you come up with it?”

Marinette began describing her process, her expression animated as she talked about her passion. After answering his questions, she asked a few of her own about the fashion industry in his kingdom, and their conversation turned to fashion in general.

The song came to an end, too soon. They stopped where they were and took a step back.

“The evening is almost as beautiful as you are, Princess. Would you accompany me out onto the balcony so that we may enjoy it?” Chat Noir asked as he escorted her off the dance floor.

Marinette bit her lip again. She wanted to say yes, but she knew that could not disappear too long. She looked around for the Prince, but he was talking to a group of nobles on the far side of the room. His manner was stiff, but he looked occupied.

“I will,” she said, “but only for a little while. I cannot be absent from the ball too long.”

He nodded, and they walked out onto the balcony. The night air was cool, a pleasant change after the warm ballroom, and the moon was bright above them, casting them in a more intimate light than the bright lights inside. 

“How do you find the Prince?” Chat Noir asked. Marinette was surprised by the change in topic, but kept her expression neutral.

“He is reserved, and it is difficult to get to know him with so many people around, but I hope to get to know him better in the coming weeks before the wedding,” Marinette said, her words carefully chosen. She didn’t dislike the Prince, despite her own worries about her wedding to a man she barely knew, but she didn’t want to insult someone from the Prince’s court.

“I believe he feels the same way, Princess.” Chat Noir said, his smile warm.

“I have heard wonderful things about His Highness,” Marinette said. “By all accounts, he will make a wise and kind ruler.” The reports about his father, the King, were less generous, but Marinette kept those thoughts silent.

“He would be happy to hear such praise, Princess.” Chat Noir said, his smile widening. “He worries, I think, about his ability to rule.” From what Marinette could tell with the mask, he was an attractive man, but his smile transformed him into something else entirely. She wanted to see it always.

She scolded herself internally. It was one thing to enjoy a dance and conversation with a friendly courtier, but quite another to dwell on her attraction to a man who was not her fiance.

“I look forward to finding out for myself, but from all I’ve heard, I will be lucky to rule with such a man at my side,” Marinette said, glancing back into the ballroom. She caught the Prince looking their way and sighed.

“It seems that I must return to the ballroom. Thank you for the dance and for the conversation, Chat Noir. I hope you enjoy the rest of your visit to our kingdom.” She curtsied as he bowed, and she walked back inside.

* * *

 

Marinette yawned. The ball had gone on into the early hours of the morning, and she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Her morning had started early. A more official meeting was planned between Prince Adrien and herself for after breakfast.

She was hopeful that this meeting would be less awkward than last night. A small, less grand affair might make the Prince more open and then they could start to get to know each other.

She tried to focus on this, on being ready to once again meet with her fiance, but her thoughts kept drifting to Chat Noir. She didn’t even know his real name, but she couldn’t get his eyes, or the way his face lit up when he smiled, or the feel of his hand on her waist out of her mind. It wasn’t just his physical attractiveness either. There were plenty of attractive members of the court, and she had never felt this way about any of them. Their conversation had flowed easily, and he had seemed like he really wanted to know what she had to say. Not because she was Princess Marinette, but because what she had to say mattered.

She shook her head as she followed her parents into the library, where they were to be meeting King Gabriel and Prince Adrien. She needed to forget about Chat Noir. It had been a pleasant evening, but that was where it needed to end. He would return to his kingdom and she would marry the Prince.

They entered the library and Marinette absently heard her father welcome their guests. She curtsied almost absently when she was introduced by name. When she lifted her head and rose to stand, the Prince was standing in front of her.

“It is wonderful to see you again, Princess,” Prince Adrien said as he bowed low, and kissed the back of her hand gently.

Marinette frowned. The Prince had been masked last night, but she was sure that this wasn’t the same man. He was familiar to her, though, but how--

Marinette gasped. Adrien smiled, and she was looking at the same smile, the same eyes as she had last night, but not while she was dancing with the Prince.

“Chat?” she asked hesitantly, not entirely trusting in her suspicions.

His smile turned sheepish. “That was me. I apologize for the charade. I wanted to get to know you as me, first. Not as the Prince.”

“But then who did I meet yesterday?” Marinette asked, as she led Adrien over to a small table where they could have some privacy. Their parents were talking quietly among themselves, and if the smiles on their faces were any indication, they were happy with how this meeting was going.

“A courtier named Felix. We look enough alike that he can pass as a decoy when needed.”

“I have to admit I am relieved,” Marinette said, blushing as she spoke. “Felix is nice enough, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Chat Noir.”

Adrien grinned. “Couldn’t get me out of your mind, Princess? How meow-nificent.”

Marinette shot him a look, but her accompanying smile belied her frustration. “On second thought, is Felix still here?”

“You wound me, Princess,” Adrien said, pressing his hand against his chest in mock hurt.

Marinette laughed and leaned in closer to him. “We have the rest of our lives together, chaton, I plan to keep you on your toes.”

“I look forward to it, Milady.”


End file.
